By Shadia Nasralla
LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices rose for a second session on Friday, buoyed by stronger than expected U.S. economic growth, strong middle distillate refining margins and hopes of a rapid recovery in Chinese demand.
Brent futures gained $1.15, or 1.3%, to $88.62 a barrel by 0930 GMT. U.S. crude also rose by 1.3%, gaining $1.01 to $82.02.
Both benchmarks advanced by more than 1% on Thursday and are heading for a third straight week of gains.
OPEC+ delegates meet next week to review crude production levels, with sources from the oil producer group expecting no change to current output policy.
The U.S. Federal Reserve's next decision on interest rates will be made at meeting over Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 against a backdrop of a dip to inflation and gross domestic product that grew by a faster than expected 2.9% in the fourth quarter.
"The positive batch of data gave oil prices a lift," said PVM analyst Stephen Brennock.
Gains on U.S. crude were capped by a 4.2 million barrel build in stocks at Cushing, the pricing hub for NYMEX oil futures, this week. [EIA/S]
"We believe soaring middle-distillate prices and cracks are mostly behind crude's bullish price action," JPMorgan said in a note, pointing to heavy refinery maintenance and outages, plus the European ban on Russian refined products from Feb. 5.
In China, critically ill COVID-19 cases are down 72% from a peak early this month while daily deaths among COVID-19 patients in hospitals have dropped by 79% from their peak, pointing to a normalisation of the Chinese economy and boosting expectations of a recovery in oil demand.
(Reporting by Shadia NasrallaAdditional reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan in SingaporeEditing by David Goodman)
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
You’ve hit your limit of {{free_limit}} free articles this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
Already subscribed? Log in
Subscribe to read the full story →
Quarterly Starter
₹900
3 Months
₹300/Month
Smart Essential
₹2,700
1 Year
₹225/Month
Super Saver
₹3,900
2 Years
₹162/Month
Renews automatically, cancel anytime
Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans
Access to Exclusive Premium Stories Online
Over 30 behind the paywall stories daily, handpicked by our editors for subscribers


Complimentary Access to The New York Times
News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic
Business Standard Epaper
Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share


Curated Newsletters
Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox
Market Analysis & Investment Insights
In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor


Archives
Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997
Ad-free Reading
Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements


Seamless Access Across All Devices
Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app